McGowan Cup - Ashbourne
Ashbourne RFC 8
Swords RFC 7
 SWORDS only had themselves to blame after indiscipline cost them a
narrow loss away to Ashbourne last Sunday.
Leading for the opening hour, a moment of madness from fullback Dave
Cahill resulted in Swords being reduced to 14 and ultimately the match.
Buoyed by their extra man, Ashbourne  pressed hard and a second half
try and penalty saw them squeeze out a win by a solitary point.
The day started badly for Swords when they lost prop Ed Flannery in
the warm up, but on the pitch they appeared to start the brighter.
A make-shift side slowly began to gel with backs and forwards mixing
well in the loose and looking dangerous, while Cahill was off-target
with a couple of ambitious kicks from near halfway.
Swords had the first score 20 minutes in, when fine interchanging and
support allowed hooker Kieran Corcoran to ground under the posts, with
Cahill tagging on the extras.
Had it not been for a number of handling errors in midfield, Swords
would have been further ahead then their 7-0 half-time lead.
A superb break from centre Loic Guiyamarch very nearly extended the
lead, caught just short after a cutting 30 yard run.
 As it was, Ashbourne came to life towards the end of the half and
their youngsters began to find their feet, although any efforts from
either side to get moving were hampered greatly by the terrible underfoot conditions.
Up front, it was a mixed bag; Swords dominated the scrum, but misfired
in the lineout, but time after time they turned the home side over at
the breakdown.
The second half began in much the same vein, though Ashbourne soon had
their first points on the board when outhalf Ken Bolster knocked over a penalty.
Then came the turning point. After slicing through the cover, Cahill
chipped an excellent kick behind the defence, but was impeded in his
efforts to chase. He reacted and was given a straight red card.
This in turn lifted the home side and it wasn't long before they
started to find holes in the Swords defence. The game turned niggly
though and threatened to blow up on several occasions.
A sin-binning meant Ashbourne too were reduced to 14, albeit
temporarily, but Swords couldn't take advantage of their parity and
kicked away far too much ball.
Restored to their full complement, the hosts drove hard and eventually
found an overlap, with the pack driving substitute flanker Allan
Gallagher over in the corner for an unconverted try.
A frantic final few minutes saw the Swords pack rumble into life with
a number of surging drives, but they were unable to find a way through
and went down by a point, ruing earlier errors.
Swords: D. Cahill; R. Kiely, M. Child (c), L. Guiymarch, R. McBride; D.
Flynn, J. Kubran; M. Bradley, K. Corcoran, E. O'Griofa; F. Coll, J.
Jamie; E. O'Donnell J. Julian, S. Mulligan,
|
)
)
)
)